Jamshedpur Aircraft Accident: DGCA Suspends Approval For Alchemist Aviation After Audit

Alchemist Aviation: Following the accident on August 20, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted a special safety audit of Alchemist Aviation on August 23 and 24.

DGCA Suspends Approval For Alchemist Aviation: The aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the approval for Alchemist Aviation after an audit, conducted in response to a fatal trainee aircraft accident, revealed that the flying training organization failed to comply with regulatory standards.

This move follows the tragic incident involving a trainee aircraft from the organization, which crashed less than two weeks ago, resulting in the deaths of both the instructor and the trainee pilot on board.

In the aftermath of the August 20 accident, the DGCA carried out a special safety audit of Alchemist Aviation on August 23 and 24, leading to the suspension of its approval.

"During the audit, several serious deficiencies and non-compliances of regulatory provisions were found," DGCA said in a release on Thursday.

Alchemist Aviation is into local flying at Jamshedpur Sonari airport in Jharkhand. The regulator said it has suspended the approval granted to Alchemist Aviation to operate as a Flying Training Organisation.

"The FTO will have to mandatorily undergo a de novo rectification process to ensure obligatory compliances," it added.

The aircraft went missing after it took off from Sonari Aerodrome in Jamshedpur on August 20. The bodies of pilot Capt Jeet Satru and trainee pilot Subrodeep Dutta were recovered on August 22, by NDRF team.

The missing aircraft was found in the Chandil dam in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharswan district. Indian Navy personnel pulled out the wreckage of the two-seater aircraft from the dam on Monday night.

Navy personnel pulled out the wreckage of the aircraft on Monday night with the help of a balloon from 15-18 metres depth of the dam. The aircraft crashed into the reservoir soon after taking off from Sonari Aerodrome.